Electrically-energized faucet heater



L. M. ADAMS ELECTRICALLY ENBRGIZED PAUCET HEATER Filed July 5. 19

J LESLIE M-AD/ms INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

UNITED STATES LESLIE M. ADAMS, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.'

ELECTRICALLY-ENEBGIZED FAUCET HEATER.

Application filed July 5, 1923;

To all whom it may concern:

Serial No. 649,565.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line Be it known that I, LESLIE M. ADAMS. 4-4 of Figure 3;

a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle. in the county of King and. State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrically- Energized Faucet Heaters, of which the following is a specification. reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to electrically energized heating appliances. and particularly .to heating appliances of this character adapted to be applied to a faucet to heat the water as it is discharged therefrom.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a construction of this kind which is very simple, which may be easily assembled and disassembled, which is made of relatively few parts'and these very simple, and in which the water conveying elements may be made by stamps and dies.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character in which the water conveying elements and the heating elements are assembled within a casing, this casing being separable and the heating elements being so designed that they may be removed from or inserted into position between the water conveying elements without detaching the water conveying elements from each other.

A still further object is to provide water conveying elements which may be readily held in engagement with each other by screwing one element upon the other and as readily disengaged.

Another object is to provide a construction of this character wherein a heater may be made larger or smaller by simply adding heating and water conveying elements thereto or reducing the number of heating and water conveying elements.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. wherein Figure 1 is a sectional view through a faucet heater constructed in accordance with my invention, the view showing the heater applied to a faucet;

Fi ire 2'isa perspective view of the heater applied to a faucet;

Figure 3 is an elevation of one of the water conveying elements showing in dotted lines the spiral partition therein;

Figure 5 is an elevation of one of the heating elements showing the resistance wire in dotted lines;

Figure 6 is a sectionon the line 66 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view of the water conducting and heating elements spaced from' each other and showing the electrical connections to the heating elements.

Referring'to these drawings, it will be seen that my faucet water heater comprises an outer case which may be made of metal or any other suitable material and is shown as formed of two sections 10 and 11, each of these sections having a depressed central portion and having itsperiphery formed of a marginal flanges The flange on the section 11 is designated 12 and the flange-on the section 10 is designated 13. These flanges 12 and 13 fit into each other or have telescopic engagement and the flange 13 abuts against a head 14 formed at'the junction of flange 12 with the body of section 11. The plate of section 10 has a central apertureand the section, 11 has an aperture disposed adjacent the periphery of the section. This aperture receives the inlet pipe 15, while the outlet pipe 16 extends through the central aperture in the section 10.

Disposed within the casing formed by the sections 10 and 11 are a plurality of water conducting elements. one of which is illustrated in Figure 4. I have illustrated five of these water conducting elements. These are practically alike except as regards the end elements and. therefore. a description of one will be applicable to all the others. Each water conducting element. as shown in Figure 4, consists of a metal disk 17 and a facing metal disk 18 which is formed with a spiral corrugation 19. the ridge of this corrugation touching the disk 19 at all points. There is thus formed a spiral channel 20. The center of the disk 18 is formed with an outwardly projecting hub 21 which is exteriorly screw-threaded and adjacen the edge of the disk 17 there is formed an outwardly projecting circular hub 22 which is interiorly screw-threaded. The margins of the two disks 17 and 18 are folded over upon each other. as at 23, tq form a joint impervious to water.

The inlet pipe 15 passes through the inlet opening in plate 11 and has screwthreaded engagement with the hub 22. The hub 21 of the first disk of the series has screwthreaded engagement with the like hub 21 of the next disk of the series, this hub 22 being larger in diameter than the hub ii. The hub 22 on the second disk of the series extends into hub 22 of the third disk, and so on so as to provide a connection between each water conveying element to the next succeeding water conveying element. it will be seen that water enters at the pe riphery of the first disk of the series, passes around the spiral groove or channel formed therein, thence passes to the center of the second water conveying element, passes around the spiral groove to the exterior and out into the next water conveying element of the series at the periphery thereof, then flows to the center, and then again outward to the periphery, and so on. The next to the last water conveying element has its hub 22 engaging the hub 22, while the pipe 16 has screw-threaded engagement with a hub 21*. The water will thus be caused to traverse the spiral channel of each element and flow in a circuitous course from its inlet to its outlet. The water conveying elements are spaced from each other by the hubs 21 and 21 and 22 and 22 and in the space between the, water conveying elements are disposed a series of heating elements, one of which is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Each heating element comprises opposed disks 24 of mica or equivalent material and these disks are preferably formed with a diaimtricallv extending slot 25, each disk being so slotted. At the center this slot is intersected by a relatively enlarged portion 26 adapted to receive the hubs 21 and 21. Adjacent the periphery of the disk the disk is cut away as at 27, so as to accommodate the hubs 22 and 22". A resistance wire 28 extends into the space between the disks at onc'point on the cut away portion 27 and is carried back and forth in convolutions between the disks and on one side of the slit 25 and is then extended beneath this slit 25 and is carried upward in a series of convolutions and out between the disks at another point on the cut away portion 27.

As illustrated in Figure 5, one electrical conductor 29 is connected to the wire 28, while the other electrical conductor 30 is connected to the opposite end of the wire. The mica disks 24 act to insulate the resistance wire or other electrically energized heating material, but while I preferably use mica I do not wish to be limited thereto nor to the exact construction of the heating element.

Disposed through the beaded periphery of the section 11 is a plug 31 of insulating material which is exteriorly screw-threaded to Thus receive a cap 32, likewise of insulating material. The plug is formed with a pair of sockets, and extending into these sockets are the wires 29 and 30 connected as heretofore described, and a pair of insulated wires 33 wrapped to form a cord having terminals inserted in these sockets and engaging with the ends of the wires 29 and 30. These wires 29 and 80 may be held in engagement with the wires of the cord by means of set. screws 34 or in any other suitable manner. The wires 33 are connected, of course, to any suitable source of current, and it is obvious that when the current is turned on that the current will pass through the resistance wires 28 of the heating units and will bring the same to a high heat, which in turn will heat the water contained within the spiral water conducting channels of the water conveying elements. It is thus obvious that when the current is on and the faucet is turned on, the water will .pass through the pipe 15, pass around the spiral channels of the water conveying elements, and out through the faucet 16.

One of the objects of my invention, as before stated, is to provide for an easy removal of the heating elements to thereby make the repair and change of the heating element a very simple matter; It is to this end that I have formed each heating element with the slot 25. This slot 25 permits the two halves of the heating element to be slightly flexed upon each other and this permits each heating element to be withdrawn from between the water conveying elements without disassembling the water conveying elements, or permits the insertion of these water heating elements between the water conveying elements as easily. All of the parts except the heating elements then'iselves may be made by stamp and die work and thus may be cheaply made and easily assembled. Inasmuch as the two casing sections 10 and 11 are telescopically engaged with each other, it is obvious that they may .be shifted outward away from each other so as to permit more water conveying and more heating elements to be disposed within the casing if desired. It is obvious also that the casings and the heating and water conveying elements may be made of larger or smaller sizes according to the requirements of any particular case.

I c aim 1. In a water heater, an outer casing, a plurality of water conveying units disposed in the casin and spaced from each other, each unit being formed to provide opposed walls, one of said walls having a s iral rib engaging the other wall and exten ing in a convex spiral from the circumference to the center of the wall whereby to define a spiral channel, each unit havin a screw-threaded hub opening into said 0 annel and a hub adjacent the eriphery of the unit and open ing into sai channel, the casing having an inlet pipe extending into one of said hubs and having an outlet pipe extending fromv one of said hubs to there y provide a continuous circuitous channe from the inlet to the outlet of the casing, and electrically energized heating elements disposed between the water conveying elements.

2. In a water heater, an outer casing formed of two engaged sections, a lurality of water conveying units dispose in'the casing and'spaced from each other, each unit'comprising two confronting disks, one of said disks being formed with a spiral rib touching the other disk and defining a spiral channel extending continuously from the peripheryrof the disks to the center thereof, one of said disks having an aperture disposed adjacent its periphery andthe other of said disks having an aperture at its center, the apertures being defined by outwardly projecting hubs, a hub of one disk being adapted to en within the hub of the next adjacent dis an inlet pi e extending into the casing and engaging t e hub of an adjacent water conveying element, and an outlet'pipe extending out through said casing and engaging the hub of an adjacent water conveying element, and a'plurality of electrically energized heat units disposed one between each pair of water conveying units and having common electrical connections extending out through said casing.

3. As an article of manufacture, a water conveying element comprising opposed disks joined at their perimeters, one of said disks having an aperture formed with a hub adjacent its periphery, the other disk having an aperture defined by a hub dis osed at the center of the disk, one of said d isks having a spiral corrugation extending continuously from the center outward to the periphery of the disk, the groove of said corrugation bearing against. the other disk whereb to provide a circuitous channel leading rom one of said apertures to the other.

f1. In a water heater, an outer casing, a plurality of water conveying units disposed within the casing and spaced from each other and alternately connected to each other at the center of the units and adjacent the peripherythereof, and a plurality of heating units disposed between the water conveying elements and removable or insertible without disassembling the water conveying units.

5. In a water heater, an outer casing, a-

ate resistance element, the heating unit be-' ing s litdiametrically as and for the purpose escribed.

7. As. an article of manufacture, an electrically energized heating unit for water heaters comprising opposed la ers of flexible, non-conductive material, th of said layers being slotted diametrically across the disk from one margin of the disk nearly toa the other mar 'n, t e slot being enlarged at the middle 0 the disk, the la ers being cut away at'the entrance to the sot, and an electrical heating element extending into the space between said layers at said cut away portion extending in convolutions between the layers on one side of the slot beneath the slot and then in the convolutions on the other side of the slot to said cut away part and then out from beween the layers.

8. In a vwater heater, a lurahty of water conveying units spaced each unit being connected to an adjacent unit at the center, and a plurality of electrically energized heating units disposed between the water conveying units, each of said heating units being split diametrically and having a central opening whereby said units may he slipped over the central connection 100 between the water conve units.

In testimony whereof hereunto aflix my signature.

' LESLIE M.

om each other, 

